Out of the frame

There are a thousand things that only those who wear eyeglasses can relate to. Getting them knocked off while travelling or all fogged up during a run are just a few unpleasant experiences, making for countless funny anecdotes later. Bausch + Lomb India has captured these moments into a series of ads for its latest campaign ‘Blame the frame’. “It revolves around situations where spectacles get in the way of great experiences,” says Sanjay Bhutani, MD and country head of the company.

The narrative has a clear audience — social media savvy generation. “The very basic idea was to talk to young people and convince them to use lenses,” says Surjo Dutt, national creative director, fcb Ulka. Through the ads, the brand has aptly conveyed the message that you don’t want to get stuck in awkward situations when you aren’t wearing your glasses or even when you are wearing them. “We want to position iconnect lenses, and contacts in general, as something that can add real value to our consumers’ lives,” adds Bhutani.

The ad starts with a young man all excited to take a picture with a Nargis Fakhri cutout in a mall. He takes out his phone, but can’t find the right angle to take a selfie. But it’s his lucky day, and none other than Fakhri is shown walking towards him. Naturally, he rushes up to her and asks for a picture. Nargis politely agrees, but much to her surprise and amusement, the man leaves the phone with her and walks back to the standee while the celebrity takes his and the inanimate cutout’s photo. If only he had his glasses on, he could have had a selfie with the star!

Dutt laughs, “This is the what that happens when you take off your glasses. But, once you wear contacts, you don’t take them off for an entire day.”

The campaign is taking the fight with spectacles head on, while being humorous, cheeky, and appealing to the youth, urging them to ditch the frame for Bausch + Lomb’s lenses.